


The Piece of Paper

by QueenOfTheMerryMen



Series: Sunny Side Up verse [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hood-Mills Family, Marriage Proposal, OQ Happy Ending Week, Outlaw Queen AU, Parenthood, Sunny Side verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 09:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15288564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfTheMerryMen/pseuds/QueenOfTheMerryMen
Summary: A few years in the future after having two children, Robin and Regina have a small conversation about what the future holds between them.





	The Piece of Paper

Stacking their children was a bad idea, she sees that now.

 

Once they get older it’ll be easier- at least that what she’s been told. The kids will be in school at the same time, leaving the nest within a year of each other and when she was pregnant those points had made having two children close in age seem like a smart choice. But now that it was 9 o’clock and she was elbow deep in that daily slog called bedtime she could see that she’d been misguided. For the past two hours she and Robin had been alternating with their two-year-old and one-year-old, trying to get them to bed, each enduring the tears and demands of their respective child. The sleeves of her shirt were still soaked from bathing their baby in the sink and from down the hall she could hear Robin’s tired voice on it’s third round of reciting Goodnight Moon for their toddler. It was true what they said. With babies one is one, but two is ten.

 

After finally wrangling the baby into the crib and waiting for those tiny brown eyes to close for the night, she shuffled off to their bedroom, throwing herself onto the queen-sized mattress. Shutting her eyes, she silently debated whether or not to take a ten-minute nap before taking her shower for the night. The idea of sleep was more than a little seductive, especially when her eyes were already closed and the soft mattress beneath her felt like a cloud. But if she slept then she’d never get up and she’d never get a shower, because the next time she opened her eyes it would be when the baby monitor erupted with the cries of her one-year-old. Ugh… she should take a shower while she still had the chance.

 

The sound of weighted footsteps came from the doorway and she felt the mattress shift beneath her as Robin plopped down beside her, slowly exhaling as he did so.  

 

“I’m sick of Goodnight Moon,” he muttered beneath his breath, causing her to smirk. “We need to introduce our kids to audiobooks.”

 

“We tried that,” she reminded him. “They don’t sound half as good as you do.”

 

He hummed, hiding a wry chuckle as he ran his hands over his face, trying to wipe the exhaustion from behind his eyes. “How was bathtime with the baby?”

 

“I almost drowned three times.”

 

“Cool,” he mumbled.

 

She opened her eyes to find him laid out next to her, his navy blue t-shirt still stained with formula from earlier today, his eyes still closed as he let out another deep, tired sigh. He only appeared to be in slightly better shape than her - with the various locks of her hair tumbling from her loose ponytail and the graham cracker crumbs still sticking to the fabric of her sweatpants. The picture of early parenthood.

 

Rolling over, she rested her head against his chest, shutting her eyes again. “Robin, I’m closing my eyes. When I open them I want the kids to be in college. Can you make that happen?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Are you lying?”

 

“Obviously.”

 

Tiredly chuckling, she buried her face in his chest. They stayed in bed together for a few minutes, his arm wrapped around her middle, their breathing syncing up, relishing the small peaceful moment they got at the end of the day.

 

It would get better, she knew it would. The baby had already started sleeping through the night and it would only be two years before their oldest started kindergarten. One day she’d miss these bath and bedtime rituals, and the exhaustion cuddles she and Robin shared afterwards. She’d yearn for the days when she could lift her children in her arms and rock them to sleep. But those days were a long way off.

 

“Hey Regina?”

 

“Mmm-hmm?” she hummed.

 

“You’d marry me, right?”

 

Her eyes whip open. Sitting up, she stared down at him, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Excuse me?”

 

He shrugged his shoulders, looking up at her with a blush rising in his cheeks. “I mean… you like our life together, right?”

 

“Of course,” she earnestly whispered.

 

“We live together, we have children, we’re together and things are good,” he said, sitting up on his elbows. “I just want to know if… you’d be alright with more?”

 

“More?” She leans back on her haunches, regarding him with raised eyebrows. “Is this your proposal?”

 

“No.”

 

“Good because if this is your proposal-”

 

“It isn’t.”

 

“It is extremely lackluster,” she stressed, gesturing toward herself. “I mean look at me. I am in sweatpants, there are crumbs stuck me and I look like a swamp monster.”

 

“You look gorgeous,” he assured her, immediately sitting up completely so they were eye to eye. “You always look gorgeous.”

 

“You’re a liar,” she mumbled, the small smile on her face betraying how flattered she felt. Sighing, she reached for his hand. “This isn’t a proposal.”

 

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “This is me asking if you want the piece of paper.”

 

A warm smile spread across her face, as she leaned forward to press her forehead against his. “I would love the piece of paper,” she whispered. “I think the piece of paper… would be really nice.”

 

His hands reached up to rub on her shoulders, a relieved sigh rising in his chest. “Good,” he breathed. “That’s all I wanted to know.”

 

Still smiling she gave him a soft, lingering kiss. “I am gonna take a warm shower. If you have the energy, I’d appreciate it if you were naked when I got back.”

 

He chuckled, biting his lip as he nodded. “I think I can muster up energy for that.”

 

Humming excitedly, she gave him a quick kiss before climbing off the bed. She’d never been the type to dream of weddings and white dresses but she’d be lying if she said that after their small talk she couldn’t hear the bells chiming in the back of her head.

 

“Regina?”

 

She turned back to face him as he sat on the bed, swinging his feet to the ground.

 

“For the record,” he drawled. “I wouldn’t propose like this.”

 

“I know.”

 

“No you don’t,” he said, shaking his hand and standing to his feet. “When I propose… neither of us will be in sweatpants. Certainly not you. You will be in a nice, lovely dress that you bought just for the occasion. I will wear a suit and a tie, even though I hate ties but I will choose to suffer through one because I know the night is important and I want it to be perfect. We’ll leave the kids with Belle for the night so I can take you out, somewhere nice, where we can eat an adult meal that doesn’t include graham crackers or mac and cheese.”

 

“And after dinner I will take you out on a walk to someplace with a view, sunset or stars, I haven’t decided but it will be spectacular. Then I will get down on one knee, probably trying to keep the tears out of my eyes as I ask you to spend the rest of your life with me.”

 

Breath caught in her throat, she stares up at him as he lays out the details for what could be one of the most important nights in her entire life. It sounds sweet and magical, and more than he could’ve hoped for. Huffing, she reaches up rest her hand against his heart. “So… got it all planned out, do you?”

 

He smiled, a hint of smugness in his blue eyes.

 

“Right down to your answer.”


End file.
